I travelled for work every week in April. I realized while I was travelling that all my sweaters are colorful, on purpose because I like color, but I didn't have a simple black sweater that I could pack in my bag and wear multiple days. I mean I do have multiple of those from back in the day, but none that I had made myself. I made sure to buy black yarn at the Maryland Sheep and Wool for that exact purpose.

This yarn is Kashmir by Fiber Optic Yarn in Morticia which is a fingering weight yarn and comes in skeins of 420 yards. I've used this yarn before in other colors and love how soft it is. It's made of 80% merino wool and I often feel like merino wool is magic because it's somehow warm when it's cold, but also cool when its warm and you just need a light cover up.




This sweater took me a while because this stitch is intricate. There were more than a few times when I had to frog back a row to fix things. Due to that - I lost track of exactly how many stitches I cast on for the back panel and sides. I *think* it was 74 for the back and 34 for the panels, but I'm not sure. This does follow the design of most of my sweaters - back panel, 2 side panels, sew them together, add the sleeves, flip inside out, do a collar, and finally add pockets.




Stitches:
ch - chain
sk st - skip stitch
sc - single crochet
hdc - half double crochet
dc - double crochet
dc2tog - double crochet 2 together
shell - dc, ch 1, dc, ch 1, dc, ch1, dc, ch1, dc, ch1, dc (6 dc with ch in between all in the same stitch)
bobble - yarn over, insert hook into the stitch and pull up, yarn over and draw up a loop, draw through 2 loops - do this 3 times then yarn over and draw through 4 loops on the hook






This stitch is called sprouts and it's done in multiples of 10 + 4.

Row 1: dc in the 4th ch from the hook ch 1, dc in the same stitch, ch 1, dc in the same stitch again, ch 1, * sk 3 st, sc in the next stitch, ch 3, sk st, sc in the next stitch, sk 3 st**, shell in the next ch. Repeat from * across endding at **, in the last stitch do half a shell - dc, ch, dc, ch, dc.
Row 2: ch 2, dc in the same dc, * ch3, sc in the next ch 1 space, ch 2, sc in the second ch space of the shell, ch 3**, bobble in the third chain space of the shell, ch 3, sc, in the fourth chain space of the shell, ch 2, sc in the next sc after the bobble. Repeat from * across ending with **. Dc2tog in the last chain
Row 3: Ch 3, * sc in the next ch 3 space, sk next ch 2 space, shell in the next ch 3 space, sk next ch 2 space, sc in the next ch 3 space**, ch 3, sk the bobble, sc in the next ch 3 space. Repeat from * across ending at **. ch 1, hdc in the last ch.
Row 4: Ch 3, sc in the next ch 1 sp, * ch 2, sc in the second ch space of the shell, ch 3, bobble in the third chain space of the shell, ch 3, sc, in the fourth chain space of the shell, sc in the next sc, ch 2**, sc in the next sc, ch 3, sc in the next sc. Repeat from * across stopping at **. Sc, ch1, hdc all in in the last chain Row 5: Ch 4, dc ch dc in the starting stitch, * sk in the next ch 2 space before the bobble, ch 3, sc in ch space after the bobble**, shell in the next ch 3 space. Repeat from * ending at **. In the last ch - dc, ch, dc, ch, dc (half a shell)
Rep rows 2-5 until you have your desired length.

Happy early 4th of July!!

I don't know why napkins have been on my mind lately, but they have. Debi from De La Designs did a demo on Clayshre recently with one of these and the other I saw somewhere and thought - I could do that but with leaves.

The first is a little tray with the napkin holder. Keep all your condiments neat in the middle of the table. I used my new texture mat on this in conjunction with a rolling pin.




I used cutters from De La Designs for both the tray and the upright pieces plus a gr form. I used the smallest of the rounded rectangle set.

I have been searching for some good quatrefoil texture for a few months. I found a roller on Etsy, but it was in millimeters and I didn't think to convert it to inches (yes, dumb American moment). It was meant for polymer clay and was tiny. The texture was good (it was on one of the angels and trees with birds a couple of kilns ago), but tiny.

I found a piece of glass on Etsy a few weeks ago that was the perfect texture, but first - glass in the studio yuck. Second, the shipping for it was crazy expensive (probably because it's glass). I mentioned it to my pottery bff Heather who in a couple of days found the same texture on a matt on Amazon!

I noticed that the supplier for this was in NY and found their web site and ended up buying some other things as well. They are a cake supply place called NY Cake.

While making this I decided to try a dart because I had been thinking about those. I think it makes the pitcher look a little sassy. Not entirely sure I like the dart with the separate spout. It makes it look sassy and pouty.

The grape wine chiller is so amazing! It could also be used as a vase, but the colors came out just like I had envisioned. I need to this a series of things and make more. The only downside is that it is very heavy.

I'm really happy with how the birch and cardinal vases turned out. The clear definitely muted the root beer, but not every where it would have touched which is weird. I do really want to figure out what caused that.

Laguna 60 Black Mayco UG wiped back Leaves: Mayco Sour Apple, Just Froggy Grapes: Mayco Fruit of the Vine, Grape Expectations Vines: tiny bit of Mayco Root Beer and Java Bean 2167 Clear all over the outside Insight: Midnight Ceramics Boxed Wine x3	Laguna 60 Black Mayco UG wiped back Leaves: Mayco Sour Apple, Just Froggy Grapes: Mayco Fruit of the Vine, Grape Expectations Vines: tiny bit of Mayco Root Beer and Java Bean 2167 Clear all over the outside Insight: Midnight Ceramics Boxed Wine x3
Laguna 60 Black Mayco UG wiped back Leaves: Mayco Sour Apple, Just Froggy Grapes: Mayco Fruit of the Vine, Grape Expectations Vines: tiny bit of Mayco Root Beer and Java Bean 2167 Clear all over the outside Insight: Midnight Ceramics Boxed Wine x3	Laguna 60 Black Mayco UG wiped back Leaves: Mayco Sour Apple, Just Froggy Grapes: Mayco Fruit of the Vine, Grape Expectations Vines: tiny bit of Mayco Root Beer and Java Bean 2167 Clear all over the outside Insight: Midnight Ceramics Boxed Wine x3
Sunrise side Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Trees and Bird: Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale Sunrise: Mayco Fruit of the Vine, Candy Apple Red, Jack o Lantern, Sunkissed Bark: Mayco Rootbeer x3 2167 clear all over	Sunset side Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Trees and Bird: Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale Sunset: Mayco Fruit of the Vine, Candy Apple Red, Jack o Lantern, Sunkissed Bark: Mayco Rootbeer x3 2167 clear all over
Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Fruit of the Vine, Candy Apple Red, Jack o Lantern, Sunkissed 2167 clear all over Inside: Midnight Ceramics Sexy Mermaid x3	Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Fruit of the Vine, Candy Apple Red, Jack o Lantern, Sunkissed 2167 clear all over Inside: Midnight Ceramics Sexy Mermaid x3
Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Leaves: Mayco Fruit of the Vine, Candy Apple Red, Jack o Lantern, Sunkissed Bark: Mayco Rootbeer x3 2167 clear all over Amaco Sky x2 inside	Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Hot Tamale x2 Mayco Norse Blue x3 with Sweeps of Light Flux 2167 clear
Sunflowers - Mayco underglaze black, bright yellow, harvest gold, leaf green Background - Mayco Saphire x3 2167 all over	Sunflowers - Mayco underglaze black, bright yellow, harvest gold, leaf green, Amaco Tenmoku x3 center Background - Mayco Saphire x3 2167 all over
Sunflowers - Mayco underglaze black, bright yellow, harvest gold, leaf green, Amaco Tenmoku x3 center Background - Mayco Saphire x3 2167 all over	Sunflowers - Mayco underglaze black, bright yellow, harvest gold, leaf green, Amaco Tenmoku x3 center Background - Mayco Saphire x3 2167 all over
Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Inside and Rim: Kentucky Mudworks Hydra x3 Outside: Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale, 2167 clear	Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Inside and Rim: Mayco Eggplant x3 Passion Fruit x2 Outside: Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale, 2167 clear
Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Inside and Rim: Mayco Rasberry Mist x3 Amarylis x2 Outside: Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale, 2167 clear	Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Cotton Tail, Hot Tamale, 2167 clear Rim and back: Amaco Snapdragon x3
Laguna 60 Mayco Black UG wiped back Mayco Hot Tamale x2 Mayco Norse Blue x3 with Sweeps of Light Flux 2167 clear	Laguna 60 Midnight Ceramics Sexy Mermaid x3
Laguna 60 Spectrum Autumn Purple x3 Spectrum Running Hot Chowder dots then maybe Midnight Ceramics Boxed Wine? Or maybe it was the Boxed Wine first? Damnit it was cool	Laguna 60 Mayco Northern Woods x2
Laguna 60 Mayco Black ug wiped back Top:Clayscapes Briar Rose Middle:Clayscapes Lily of the Valley Bottom: Clayscapes Wild Aster these were dispointing, I may add another coat and re-glaze

This kiln sneak peak is an interesting one. Do you see how the bark texture is two different colors? When I put the 2167 clear on top I don't worry about being perfect because its clear and doesn't usually change anything. Except this time it's definitely lightened the rootbeer. I was at the very bottom of my 5 gallons when I did this so maybe at some point I didn't mix it well enough and there was extra of something. I actually think it adds depth to the bark so I like it, but I'd love to know the chemical that causes that.

Over the weekend I mixed up a new batch of the clear and did a test tile, but I do have 3 pints left of the old batch. I was lazy and did not sieve. I did a test tile and if it looks weird I'll go back and sieve, but otherwise I'm just going with it.




I couldn't resist and extra look at the grapes. From this angle it looks so awesome!

I decided to make these birch vases have different views on each side. One side is more of a sunrise view with the bright yellows at the top and the other is more of a sunset view with the deep purples and reds at the top. Glazing these takes a good bit of time and patience, but the result is worth it.


All the glazes are Mayco. The trees are Cotton Tail and the Cardinals are Hot Tamale. The sunris/sunset is Fruit of the Vine, Candy Apple Red, Jack o Lantern, and Sunkissed. The tree bark is Root Beer.